I had heard something of the Kaiser’s sudden appearances and disappearances during the war, but I had not thought they could be so well managed as to be kept from the knowledge of one of his own trusted servants, for such I judged Clubfoot to be.  Evidently, he knew nothing of my visit to the Castle that evening, and I was for a moment unpatriotic enough to wish I had kept my half of the letter that I might give it to Clubfoot now to save the coming exposure.  “A thousand dollars!” Clubfoot said.

I remained silent.

“Two?  Three?  Four thousand?  Man, you are greedy.  Well, I will make it five thousand—­twenty thousand marks....”

“Herr Doktor,” I said, “I don’t want your money.  I want to be fair with you.  When the ... the person we know of sends for you, we will go together.  You shall tell the large part you have played in this affair.  I only want credit for what I have done, nothing more....”

A knock came at the door.  The porter entered.

“A telegram for the Herr Doktor,” he said, presenting a salver.

Somewhere near by a band was playing dance music ... one of those rousing, splendidly accented Viennese waltzes.  There seemed to be a ball on, for through the open door of the room, I heard, mingled with the strains of the music, the sound of feet and the hum of voices.

Then the door closed, shutting out the outer world again.

“You permit me,” said Grundt curtly, as he broke the seal of the telegram.  So as not to seem to observe him, I got up and walked across to the window, and leaned against the warm radiator.

“Well?” said a voice from the arm-chair.

“Well?” I echoed.

“I have made you my proposal, Herr Doktor:  you have made yours.  Yours is quite unacceptable.  I have told you with great frankness why it is necessary that I should have your portion of the document and the sum I am prepared to pay for it.  I set its value at five thousand dollars.  I will pay you the money over in cash, here and now, in good German bank-notes, in exchange for those slips of paper.”

The man’s suavity had all but vanished:  his voice was harsh and stern.  His eyes glittered under his shaggy brows as he looked at me.  Had I been less agitated, I should have noted this, as a portent of the coming storm, also his great ape’s hands picking nervously at the telegram in his lap.

“I have already told you,” I said firmly, “that I don’t want your money.  You know my terms!”

He rose up from his seat and his figure seemed to tower.

“Terms?” he cried in a voice that quivered with suppressed passion, “terms?  Understand that I give orders.  I accept terms from no man.  We waste time here talking.  Come, take the money and give me the paper.”

I shook my head.  My brain was clear, but I felt the crisis was coming.  I took a good grip with my hands of the marble slab covering the radiator behind me to give me confidence.  The slab yielded:  mechanically I noted that it was loose.